Edinburgh independent schools

[maggiethecat]

May be moving up from London. Have shortlisted a few state schools to look at but think it makes sense to look at a few indies as well.
Does anyone know about St Georges girls? Heard that it's good academically but that's not all that matters to us.

Views on any others gratefully received.

Should have mentioned that our girls are at primary level, ages 7 and 4.

Hi Stewie, have not yet as was in a hurry but will do so as people have been helpful on that forum.

So far we have shortlisted St Peters RC, James Gillespie, Sciennes and Flora Stevenson. These seem to be very popular ones but I'm sure there are many other good schools.

It struck me that the staff at the above schools were very warm and helpful over the phone. The lady at Sciennes was positively gushing and was sure that our girls would love it there!

Any views of yours would be very welcome.

Stewie, I'm not just interested in exam results - I would like dds to go to a school where children thrive academically but where they also enjoy school and the opportunities for sport and creative activities. Enthusiastic staff, decent infrastructure and an interested parent community are also important. I would say that many of these boxes are ticked at my girls' current state RC school.

James G is also primary - have appointment to see them.

Will have a look at properties while there too.

Good to know that many schools would tick the boxes I'm interested in .

Younger girl is 4 and has missed the deadline for application for entry to P1. This is why getting a property in catchment is so imp for us as we realise that it is the primary element for determination of places altho there is still no guarantee of a place.

Don't think I have a stomach for fierce and nasty and that's why I will consider private option if placing them together at state school of choice becomes difficult.

For private schools I would recommend Edinburgh Academy.

Have had kids/ nieces/nephews at Heriots, Watsons, Mary Erskine and would say the Academy was the best for us.

It is a small school in the centre of town . It was perfect for my DS2 as is a small school and it seemed like there was a really caring ethos from all the staff.It was a bit like being part of a family which sounds a bit naff as I never got involved in PTA or anything like that but totally trusted the school to keep me informed when I needed to be informed.

DS2 who had been to a few other schools in Edinburgh and overseas said it was the best he had been to and he is proud to be an Accie but then he plays rugby !

Many of the state primary schools in Edinburgh are pretty good. I'm sure many of the private ones are too but don't know enough about them to comment. Another thing you may wish to bear in mind is the type of house that you would like to live in and whether or not you can purchase or rent that within the areas you like. I don't know exactly what the catchment areas are for each of the state schools you have mentioned but do know that there are many, many tenements within the catchment area for Gillspies. There will also be some detached and semi detached houses but the prices may well be eye watering. Sciennes will also have many tenements and big old houses. The ESPC website will give you an idea of what to expect in the different areas. Both schools have a very good reputation and the high school that they feed into has a very good reputation too.

Highriggs will look these up.

Jaffa, will see the lie of the land when we visit next weekend. Think I may be making a few trips up!

Good luck. I love the old houses in those areas but even on 2 professional salaries DH and I could never afford to live there.